Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had a flood in July 2023. ****************** sent Graystone Property Restoration to mitigate mold and fix all of the damage. It is now four months later and it has been nothing but constant back and forth. I have a 1 year old baby thats been living in a house with black mold because the project manager cannot seem to get the correct work orders in. He sporadically comes, often cancelling appointments. Yesterday on 11/9/23, I was under the impression he was coming to have me sign off on the finalized orders to get the work started. Instead I was met with the project manager saying that work they were going to do and replace to remediate the flood would in fact not be done, though for the months prior I was told this was part of the restoration. At this point I have zero faith in the company as they have not been able to write up work orders for work that we have asked them to write up on many occasions. There have been nothing but empty promises and my families health is suffering living in a home with black mold. On numerous occasions staff at Graystone told me that this was not a health hazard, though it surely is. We walk into the house and our throats close up and noses start running. This is not a healthy way to be living for anyone. This company is completely inept and likely keep having the project manager come out to the home to keep charging the insurance company for these meaningless visits. Living with exposed black mold, especially in young children, often leads to life long respiratory issues. I am not sure that the insurance company knows what their vendors are doing to people like me but something must be done.

  Business response

  11/14/2023

  November 14, 2023
  
  Re: Complaint ID: ********

  Please consider this as our detailed response to the above referenced complaint:

  Job Timeline:  This timeline is taken from our daily record of communications with ****************** on their communication portal called Xactanalysis.  These entries were made day by day and are date/time stamped.  We have kept the customers insurance company up to date on the job progress since receiving the assignment from them.
  1.We received the assignment from Mr. ************* (customer) insurance company on 8/3/23 and inspected the home and submitted an estimate for repairs on the same day.
  2.The estimate was approved by the insurance company on 8/7/23.
  3.Our estimator, *******************, left our contract with the customer with the intention of having them sign and return it to us, which would start our contractual relationship.  ***** contacted the customer on 8/10, 8/11, and 8/14 requesting the contract be signed and returned to us.  The customer signed on 8/10/23 and emailed the contact to our estimator on 8/14/23.
  4.On 8/16/23 our Project Manager (**), ******, met with the customer to review the estimate and inform the customer of the requirements and process for selecting finish materials.  Customer expressed concerns about replacing kitchen cabinets, additional living expenses with the work in the bathroom and kitchen, and mold.  Material vendors were provided for the customer to make material selections from.  Mold remediation will be priced once cabinets are removed for inspection of wall behind cabinets.
  5.On 8/23/23 ** met w/ adjuster, *****************************, on site and she verbally approved replacing cabinets by supplement, but requested we not do the work until she approved the supplemental estimate. 
  6.On 8/26/23 the supplemental estimate was approved by adjuster.  Our ** set a meeting w/ the customer to review the supplemental estimate on 9/7/23.
  7.On 9/7/23 our ** met w/ customer to review supplemental estimate, go over cabinet selection options, and give the vendors the customer should consult to make the other selections still required.  
  8.Customer was out of country 9/22-10/2/23.
  9.Customer selected flooring and cabinets on 10/11/23, but still had not selected wall tile, backsplash tile, and paint colors.  
  10.On 10/11/23 our ** met w/ customer to go over final selections.  Customer still had not selected tile, so a follow up meeting was set for 10/17/23 to get selections finalized.
  11.Between 10/11 and 10/31/23 our ** scheduled site visits to confirm measurements on the counter tops.  These are the meetings he rescheduled.  These measurements were not critical to the schedule and did not delay the work.
  12.On 10/17/23 our ** met w/ customer again to get final selections, which were still not made.  The customer said they had not narrowed them down and were looking at things online.  ****** directed them to our vendors to get samples.  ****** told the customer at this meeting that we could not price the change order without final selections.
  13.Our ** had to leave the country from 10/21 and returned on 10/25/23 due to a death in his family. No delay caused due to lack of selections.
  14.On 10/31/23 the customer finalized the selections with our **.
  15.Upon receipt of final selections our ** priced a change order price for upgrades and presented it to the customer on 11/9/23 for approval.  Our ** made an error and did not include the exhaust fan in this change order pricing, which the customer brought to his attention on 11/10/23. Our Ops Manager added exhaust fan and emailed to customer on 11/10/23.
  ********/**/** our Ops Manager and ** met w/ the customer to present the additional pricing for the exhaust vent and discuss the timeline of the project and reason for the delay.  The customer reduced the scope of the change order because more than the customer wanted to spend.  We repriced and set a meeting for 11/14/23 at 2pm to review w/ customer.As to the complaint made to the BBB:

  The complaint regarding constant back and forth is due to the customer not responding to our requests for action.  For example, the customer did not send the signed contract to us until 8/14/23, seven days after the estimate was approved despite 3 requests from our estimator.  In addition, you can see from the timeline that our ** met at least six times with the customer to get final selections.  We prefer to not have to badger customers for decisions, so the back and forth is not something we want.

  The customer complains about black mold, but I do not understand the full thought conveyed.  We have contained the visible mold with plastic and the insurance company will entertain our estimate for remediation once we remove the cabinets to expose the wall for inspection.  Our Operations Manager was on site yesterday and asked to smell inside of a cabinet and the ambient air for mold smell and he did not detect it. As for black mold, this is a common street name for Stachybotrys.  No mold growing on walls is normal or good, but I am not aware the any testing has been done to determine the mold species or if the customer is referring to Stachybotrys.

  The complaint states that the work is being delayed by the **s lack of ability to get correct work orders in.  Our ** cannot issue work orders until the final scope is agreed to by the customer.  The change order has not been agreed to yet as the customer requested a revised scope yesterday.

  Regarding our ** coming sporadically and cancelling appointments, this is outlined in item 11 of the timeline.  Between 10/11 and 10/31/23 our ** scheduled site visits to confirm measurements on the counter tops.  These are the meetings he rescheduled.  These measurements were not critical to the schedule and did not delay the work.  We still did not have all of the finish selections so we could price the change order.  Our ** site visits did not delay the commencement of work.

  As to the complaint about our ** stating we would not do the work to remediate the flood damage on 11/9/23, the ** does not know why the customer would say this.  The only idea our ** has is that the bathroom floor tile is not included in the estimate for replacement and it matches the wall accent tile.  Our ** told the customer that he would request the insurance company add by supplement.

  The complaint states that the customer has zero faith in our company and that we have made empty promises.  We are not aware of making promised yet, because the lack of owner selections and change order approval has delayed ordering materials and scheduling a start date.  We are happy to refund the deductible the customer has paid us and have him request another contractor that he has confidence in.  We do not want to continue with a relationship of distrust, bad communication, and perceptions of the sequence of events that we do not share.

  In regard to the allegation that we are sending our ** to make site visits for no reason other than to charge the insurance company, this a blatantly false allegation.  The reality is that we are not permitted to charge for supervision or project management and every time our ** goes to the job and gets no decisions from the customer it is eating up our profits by wasting that portion of our overhead budget.  

  The complaint states that Graystone has told the customer that their home was not a health hazard.  Our ** nor Ops Manager have any memory of this being discussed.  The adjuster discussed mold remediation during her visit of 8/23/23 with the customer.  We are not industrial hygienists nor doctors and are not able definitively tell if it is hazardous to them or not.  Even so, we contained the visible microbial growth with poly and tape and left an air scrubber for an extended period of time.  This complaint is the first time our ** and Graystone has heard about the respiratory affects of the air inside of the home.  We will report to the customers insurance company on his behalf.  Even so, the customer has a direct relationship with his insurance company and has the contact information for the handling adjuster.  We are not aware of any conversations between the two parties regarding this subject.  In addition, we were first sent to the home by ****************** to mitigate water damage on July 21, 2023 where we found the drywall removed for plumbing repairs exposing what appears to be mold inside the wall cavity.  Our technicians covered the opening with poly and tape to contain exposure.  We also set an air scrubber for an extended period of time due to customer concerns about air quality.  The customer should have called our office or the insurance company sometime over the last 4 months to express their dire concerns over the health of their home.  We have received no such notification.

  In conclusion, I disagree with the assertion that Graystone Restoration has substantially delayed the progress of this project.  If we have, the only thing we could have done differently is to put more pressure on the customer to make decisions so we could proceed.  We have no incentive to put off the work as we dont get paid until the work is complete and we are on a time-scoring system with Citizens.  This customer has made several false allegations in this complaint that impugned our intentions and flat out said he does not have confidence in us.  I have let the customers insurance company know of the complaints and that we will release the customer from their contract.  I believe that the customer should request another contractor due to their lack of confidence and trust in our intentions and abilities and the fact that we see the circumstances of this project so differently.
  

  Thanks for the opportunity to respond to this complaint.
  

  ***************************
  

  President
  Graystone Restoration

  
  

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